There is a freshman on the Cabrini women’s lacrosse team who took it to quite a level recently. On April 12, Royersford’s Sasha Wozniak seemed to be facing a conflict between a day-long academic symposium and the Cavaliers’ home game against Neumann University.

What to do?

After working out the details Wozniak was able to do both, though her time on the lacrosse field would be abbreviated. She made the best of it, though. The Spring-Ford product scored five goals against Neumann — in one half. She then raced back to the symposium for the balance of the day, one in which the 5-foot-2 attacker stood tall and provided new meaning for what it is like to be a student-athlete.

“It was interesting,” Wozniak said, in the understatement of her season. “I had to run off the field at the half.”

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By that time she had already run Neumann halfway back to Aston in what would be a 17-9 victory for the Cavs. It all made for a memorable day at whirlwind speed.

“She knew she could only play half the game,” said coach Jackie Neary. “So we worked something out so that basically during her (symposium) lunch break she played lacrosse.”

It was Wozniak’s second five-goal game in a row having tallied as many (plus three assists) four days earlier at Immaculata. A nice reward followed when she was named the Colonial States Athletic Conference women’s lacrosse player of the week. Wozniak has four games of at least five goals, including a season-high seven versus Widener on March 15.

The only thing that cooled her off was an injury suffered (she is day-to-day) in a 14-12 victory over visiting Colorado College on April 19. She missed the last two games of the regular season, in which she scored 40 goals in 14 games. It does not take a math major, which she happens to be, to calculate that is nearly three goals per game. Wozniak is quick to acknowledge the work of a couple of teammates in helping her find the back of the net.

“Melissa and Lacie have really helped me a lot,” she said, referring to fellow attackers Melissa Scanzano and Lacie Doubet, who have combined for 102 goals. “They feed me the ball well and that has definitely helped with a lot of my goals. The three of us work real well together on the attack.”

Before she decided to attend Cabrini Wozniak was considering a number of other colleges and universities, including West Chester, Philadelphia University, Gwynedd-Mercy and Drexel. She of course ultimately decided on Cabrini and it has been quite a first year for Wozniak at the Radnor campus. It was a place she may not have visited let alone attended if not for a little nudge. To that extent, if she had any doubts that mother truly does know best, well, she knows now.

“Cabrini was one of the last options and my mom forced me to come here and take a look,” she said of Sherry Wozniak’s urging. “Finally, I decided I would come take look and I fell in love with the school, the coach, the team and I like how close it is to home. I love being here and I am glad she forced me to come here and take a look.”

Neary is glad, too. Now in her 18th season at the helm of a Division III program she developed and has taken to 10 NCAA tournaments, she cannot say enough about Wozniak as a player and an individual.

“She is somebody you want on your team,” said Neary, who was a member of Temple’s 1984 national championship lacrosse team. “She is a good student and a good person and I think everybody got the same vibe when they met her during her (campus) visit last spring. I didn’t realize how big of a contributor she was going to be and she is such a delight to coach. We are very fortunate to have her here at Cabrini College.”

It is safe to say Wozniak, who was anointed a starter prior to the season opener, has not had any second thoughts.

“It has been really exciting and I did not know what I was getting into coming into college,” she said. “But I think it has been a lot like high school where I came here, worked well with all the players and fit in nicely.”

The program has captured 12 conference and the Cavaliers would love nothing more than to make it a baker’s dozen. Cabrini has a first-round bye and will host the semifinal on Wednesday.

“We are playing well, a lot better than I thought we would,” she said. “In conference play we are doing very well and I am excited for that because I have never won a championship.”

Winning a conference title would send Cabrini to the NCAA tournament for the 11th time.